Jenn won her first writing award in fourth grade for her short story, “Tour Through a Haunted House.” In seventh grade she won for “A Penny Wish.” Her love of reading, writing, and language led her to study English and Spanish at Albion College (Michigan), where she holds a bachelor’s degree. Later, she finished her master’s degree in library science at the University of Kentucky.
Though Jenn never worked officially as a librarian, she helped finance her graduate degree as a library assistant at the Lexington Public Library (Kentucky). Most of her work has been library-adjacent, using her creative skills in editorial, sales, and marketing roles for publishers and library software companies. She’s authored peer-reviewed articles on libraries, education, and health.
In 2018, Jenn took a medical leave from work due to a worsening chronic illness. On her good days, she read novels. Lots of novels. And then she remembered: “I am an award-winning writer.” Now, she writes novels with characters with plenty of life experience, including disability.
Jenn found new connections in the disability community, and then the writing community. In 2025, Jenn survived a ruptured brain aneurysm and stroke, and her communities have helped her and her family immensely.
Jenn is a member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association, Chicago-North Romance Writers, and the Authors Guild.
Jenn has lived in Chicago (IL), Lexington (KY), and Sedona (AZ), plus a semester abroad in Segovia, Spain. Though she loves experiencing new places, cultures, and people, she always returns to her original home, suburban Detroit (MI), where she now lives with her partner, Nate, and rescue dog, Clara. (Jenn loves cats but Nate is allergic. 😿)